We Test Honest Kitchen Dog Food

Lately we’ve been ordering Waylon’s Sojos Complete in 8 lb. bags online in order to save a few dollars (esp. since shipping is free). But we have been looking for a gluten-free dog food that’s just as healthy that uses a different protein source. Because Sojos does not offer any other grain-free foods that include a meat that Waylon can eat because of his allergies, we were very excited to find Honest Kitchen’s Thrive which includes free-range chicken, organic fair-trade quinoa and sweet potatoes.

Here of some of the things we like about this food:

Like Sojos it’s dehydrated so much easier to travel with than raw pet food

The ingredients are healthy, natural, and protein-focused

Unlike Sojos which must be mixed with water and sit for 1 hr., Honest Kitchen’s Thrive must sit for only 5-10 min. after being mixed with water

One of the downsides that we’ve seen so far is that it essentially has us feeding Waylon double the amount of food, so 4 cups per day, while on Sojos he was having just over 2. This is common to see across different dog food brands, but in this case will probably mean that we won’t be saving any money on this food vs. the Sojos. And it does seem to require ample mixing, as Way seemed to inhale some of the food dust while eating it, I guess I did not mix it well enough, or may have to add more water.

But the good news is that it’s gluten-free, and because dogs can develop an allergy to a protein after eating it for years, it will be good to be able to mix it up! I may retest it in the future and contact the company to learn about what precautions they take to prevent gluten contamination.

Kristen Campbell and her "wonder dog" Waylon are both severely intolerant to gluten. Celiac? Perhaps. But they've never had the endoscopy to tell (human or dog--does that exist?). Fortunately, they found each other!
When Kristen isn't busy at work, she loves mixing up natural, gluten-free beauty products under her self titled line, spending time with her favorite "wonder dog" and catching up with friends.

4 Comments so far

Yeah, I might add in some g/f oats or something crunchy so he gets to chew something. He pretty much just lapped up the Sojos too though–even the big turkey bites. So his poop was a little unprocessed sometimes. I wonder if he’ll get more nutrients this way?

I use HK dog food and have for 1.5 years. My Airedale Connor was given up by his first owner due to ill health. They said he had the runs constantly and had the vet bills to prove it. I switched to HK and Connor is healthy and happy and has never had the runs!

The food is mostly organic, healthy, filled with nutrition. Both Connor and I love it. He eats a cup in the morning and another one at night. I mix in things with it, lately chopped zucchini that I have an abundance of in my garden. He loves to eat that by doing this it keeps the calories down but fills him up!